1478. CONFEDERATION, Failure of.—
Our first essay, in America, to establish a federative
government had fallen, on trial, very
short of its object. During the war of Independence,
while the pressure of an external
enemy hooped us together, and their enterprises
kept us necessarily on the alert, the
spirit of the people, excited by danger, was a
supplement to the Confederation, and urged
them to zealous exertions, whether claimed by
that instrument, or not; but, when peace and
safety were restored, and every man became
engaged in useful and profitable occupation,
less attention was paid to the calls of Congress.—
Autobiography. Washington ed. i, 78.
Ford ed., i, 107.
(1821)
